James Folta was diagnosed with mesothelioma 41 years after he was alleged to have been exposed to asbestos fibers while working for Ferro Engineering. Because Section 6(c) of the Illinois Workers’ Occupational Diseases Act bars asbestos claims unless they are filed with the workers’ compensation commission within 25 years of…
Zeng Guang Lin, a 20-year-old construction worker, was on a scaffold and installing metal siding on a building when he was asked to go to the roof to assist with a different job. Lin went to the roof wearing his safety harness but was unable to find a place to…
Darren Merlino, 47, worked for an electrical subcontractor. While working at a pump station, he fell 10 feet through an unguarded hole in the floor. Merlino suffered fractures to his left ribs, wrist and elbow and a torn left meniscus among other injuries. He now suffers from headaches, seizures and…
On Oct. 16, 2007, union sprinkler fitter Frank Barnai was working at a Wal-Mart Store construction site in Joliet, Ill. He tripped over an electrical conduit protruding 6-12 inches from a concrete floor. Barnai was carrying a sprinkler pipe over his shoulder at the time of his fall. Barnai, 54,…
The 4th District of the Illinois Appellate Court in the case of a former railroad employee, James Smith, reversed the jury’s verdict finding that the trial judge had been wrong in preventing the defendant from presenting evidence regarding the plaintiff’s prior work history. Smith was a former railroad employee of…
On Aug. 18, 2009, Douglas Anoman, a radio technician employed by Bartronics LLC, was working at the defendants’ Scrap Metal Services LLC and SMS Mill Services LLC steel mill in Burns Harbor, Ind. The purpose of working there was to service a crane radio. After Anoman removed the radio from…
Dwayne Gitter was a union electrician working at an exhibit center disassembling the electrical supply to the lighting that had been used at a recently completed trade show. He was standing on a scissors lift platform when the lift toppled from the weight of heavy electrical cables. Gitter fell 30…
The plaintiff Shrempf, Kelly, Napp & Darr, Ltd. was granted summary judgment by the Circuit Court of Madison County for attorney fees and costs they claimed were due pursuant to the Illinois Common Fund Doctrine. The defendants, the Carpenters’ Health and Welfare Trust Fund and the trustees of the Carpenters’…
In February 2010, the plaintiff Janusz Bruszniewski, 55, was working for a plumbing subcontractor at a renovation project at 2132 Jefferson St. in Joliet, Ill. While leaving the building, he slipped and fell on a sheet of ice in front of the entranceway. Bruszniewski suffered a distal femur fracture in…
Sandra Gibbs hired the defendant Blu-Sky Industries to do work on a septic tank on her property at 30658 S. Ashland Ave. in Beecher, Ill. The Village of Beecher is located in Chicago-area suburbs in Will County, Ill. On Dec. 8, 2009, Gibbs, 31 years old at the time, stood…